Phantom la Phantom
by BiteWorseThanBark
Summary: Danny is forced into partnering up with a weird talking girl's uniform that has a thing for blood until he figures out how to send it back from wherever it came. Ultimately, the situation is weird, but not without its perks. Though the skimpy battle outfit and the mega wedgie that comes with it aren't on that list. Nor is the whole bloodsucking deal.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I came up with this today as I was on my way home from buying toothpaste and stuff and I seriously can't believe I actually wrote it out... And within half a day, no less. Which is a new record, I think. .-.;

Why did nobody stop me? Why didn't _**I**_ stop me?! Ugh... Oh well. At least it isn't a My Little Pony crossover. Thank god for small miracles, huh?

Oh, and just to be clear, I don't actually care for cross-dressing. It's just that the idea was funny and I've wanted to try my hand at making a crackfic for a while now.

Also, Senketsu looks as he did when Ryuko first used him; a lot shorter and distinctly lacking in spiky accents, because Danny is a freaked out noob when it comes to the whole _kamui_ thing.

So, um... Enjoy? I guess...?

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><p><strong>Phantom la Phantom<strong>

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><p>Danny huddled in his room, door locked and curtains drawn tightly over the window. Apart from his desk lamp and the glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling, the room was pitch black.<p>

"For the last time," he hissed, so as not to alert his parents to his presence, "_get off_."

"No," the uniform - the _girl's_ uniform - responded. "I'm still weak. I need blood."

"Why couldn't you have taken someone else's?" Danny hissed, tugging vainly at the dark material attached to him. It barely moved an inch. "Y'know... someone more _girly_. Because you're a _girl's_ uniform."

"There wasn't any time," grumbled the uniform. "I was going to die and you were just... there."

The halfa yanked at his hair, beyond irritated. "You're not even alive to begin with!"

"I beg to differ."

"Shut up! What even are you, anyway?"

"I am Senketsu. A _kamui_."

"A what now?"

"_Kamui_," Senketsu repeated patiently. "To cut a long story short, I am a living _seifuku_ used to enhance the wearer's combat capabilities."

Danny gave the cropped uniform top and pleated skirt, both kept connected with red suspenders, a dubious look. As if sensing his doubt, the circular rings of red, yellow and orange that made up the left piece of collar shifted up. The thing was _looking_ at him.

"Appearances aren't everything," it - he? It sounded male - informed him.

"Whatever," grumbled Danny. He picked awkwardly at the skirt and fiddled with a suspender. "Listen, could you _please_ get off me now? I really don't want to be seen in public wearing you. Because people are going to _say_ things and I really don't need another excuse for me to get bullied."

Senketsu sighed. Black slipped over the ring-patterned collar. It had closed its eye. "I already told you I can't. I'm very weak at the moment and I need blood to sustain me. Even if the blood in question tastes incredibly strange."

The halfa stiffened. If this thing usually fed off of regular human blood, what would happen if it absorbed, _ingested_, his ectoplasm-infused blood?

The possibilities frightened Danny and he moaned, covering his face with his hands.

"This is too much... It's terrible!"

As if prompted by the words, a bubble of cold rose from his stomach, spilling out his mouth in a small cloud of mist. Danny slumped, defeated.

"And things just became even worse. Great."

Senketsu, whose eye had opened along with the halfa's involuntary shudder, peered up at the boy and the disappearing mist cloud curiously.

"What was that?"

"Ghost sense," Danny mumbled distractedly. He shifted the curtains aside just enough for him to peer through them. "It lets me know when a ghost is nearby." He cursed to himself softly at what he saw outside. "Oh great. It's Ember. Boy is she gonna get a kick outta this."

"Stop pulling on me," Senketsu complained. "And who is Ember?"

Danny immediately ceased fidgeting with the right hand collar. It was black and, somehow, it reminded him of an eyepatch. "A ghost. She can manipulate people with her music."

"Ghosts do not exist."

"I thought the same about talking uniforms until you showed up."

The _kamui_ shut up.

Danny smiled grimly. "Last chance to get off."

He tried to keep the pleading note out of his voice, he really did.

"I would if I wasn't so weakened. ... Sorry," Senketsu added as an afterthought.

Danny sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "Doesn't matter. I'll just have to fight in the skirt, I guess. Weird as it is..." He reached to lift the hem of the offending piece of clothing but a single throaty chord imbued with ghostly power, followed closely by panicked screaming, echoed outside, reminding him of the ghostly threat.

Wincing, the boy reached inside himself for the cold spark of his ghost half. The familiar rings of white formed, sweeping over his body in a rush of cold.

Then Senketsu panicked.

The boy's blood was cooling, his heart slowing to a near stop.

Frightened, the _kamui_ reflexively tightened (painfully) against Danny's body and the boy's head jerked up, a strangled gargle of surprise escaping his throat.

A wash of red peppered with flashes of bright white stars overtook his vision, and the uniform abruptly felt as though it had disappeared completely (_Am I naked?_), only to return with a tighter vengeance. It felt as though the very top of Danny's chest and back were now adorned with light armour. His legs felt much the same, the firm feeling of the armour extending to about mid-thigh height. It was almost comforting when compared to his crotch, which was being cupped in a painful, near-crushing embrace that had him grinding his teeth. That and he had the mother of all wedgies. Then the suspenders slapped with loud whip-cracks and he yelped as the lone one on his back flicked against his butt. Hard.

The red and the white stars bled slowly away, and Danny found himself gasping raggedly. Somehow, he had ended up on his hands and knees.

He had just enough time to think, _'These aren't Phantom's gloves,'_ before the steady draining feeling that had lingered since Senketsu first latched to him increased from a slow trickle to near river rapids status. It was so abrupt; it felt like a punch to the gut. Danny's black and red (_Wrong. They're supposed to be white._) gloved fingers clawed at the carpet weakly.

"Wh-wh-wh-" his teeth wouldn't stop chattering; body simultaneously feeling too hot and too cold. And Senketsu's blasted blood draining didn't help matters any. A dully throbbing skull was quickly added to the halfa's problems.

"I'm sorry," the _kamui_ said, a wince evident in its tone. "I didn't..." It trailed off, unsure of how to complete the sentence. Danny slowly pushed himself to stand. The room swam for a moment, but quickly disappeared with his blink.

"What did you do?" He hissed, inspecting the foreign gloves, then the rest of his body, with rapidly mounting horror. The ensemble looked like it belonged on some of the dirtier pictures of older women that Tucker kept on his PDA. That made him feel even more creeped out.

"What did you _do_?!" He shrieked, parents in the lab be damned.

"I... I'm sorry! It felt as though you were dying and I just... It was pure reflex!"

"Not answering my question," Danny shrilled, yanking at the tiny, modified, skirt flaring from his hips. There was a very disturbing gap between both sides of the skirt that framed the... the... the _codpiece_ of the bizarre outfit (If _I can even call it that. Look at all this _skin_!_).

"Your vitals were dropping so... so I panicked and triggered the transformation."

"I was just going ghost! You didn't need to... to... Argh!" Danny tore at his white hair. It seemed fluffier and more unruly than usual. Also like there was more of it. "I can't fight like this. Everyone's gonna _laugh_ at me. _Me_. Danny Phantom, hero of Amity Park, is gonna be a laughing stock. I'm ruined. Ruined!"

"Hush!" Senketsu snapped, growing tired of the boy's whining and rambling. "Honestly... Ryuko didn't complain nearly as badly as you are now."

"Ree-who-wha?"

"Ryuko. She is my... _was _my friend."

An uncomfortable and very awkward silence settled over the pair.

The boy digested this piece of information, as well as the uniform's faintly fond tone and the brooding silence that followed from its speaking of this Ryuko person.

"Maybe she didn't complain as much because she's a girl and I'm not?" Danny finally piped up 'helpfully'.

The uniform released an irritated sigh. "Perhaps. And perhaps you were right in saying that I should have found someone else to attach myself to."

The halfa brightened. "See? I knew you'd see it my way."

Another annoyed sigh. "Don't you have a... 'ghost'... to fight?"

"Yeah, well, I'm not sure I want to. Seriously, how could that Ryuko or whatever her name was even think about running around in so little clothing?" The thought of some faceless girl clad in what he was instantly sent a flush flaring over his cheeks. "It's disturbing."

"Disturbing or not, you need to fight." Senketsu stated. Its eye, perched on the now weirdly shaped and flared up collar, swivelled to look at his face. "The longer you drag this out, the worse state you're going to be in when the transformation is reversed."

"So change me back now," Danny demanded, stomach churning.

Something that sounded suspiciously like a car crashed into the tree right outside his window.

"No time. You need to go out as is."

"But-!"

"Danny," Senketsu growled, remembering that that was how the boy had referred to himself earlier. "There's no time for your misgivings regarding your appearance. You need to go and stop that so-called ghost. Do you understand?"

"Yes, but-"

"No buts! Just go," the uniform ordered sternly.

Danny squeezed his eyes shut and counted to ten. When he reopened them, they were glowing with determination.

"Alright. But I want you off of me right after the fight, capishe?"

"I'll see what I can do," Senketsu answered carefully.

He still wasn't certain if he would have enough strength to keep himself intact without a supply of blood, thus was reluctant to commit to such a promise.

Danny noticed but decided to call the _kamui_ on it later. For the moment, he had to defeat Ember.

He scrabbled under his bed, coming back up with the Fenton Thermos in hand, before turning intangible and flinging himself out of the wall and into the air.

Senketsu was stunned. "You... How did you...?"

"I'll explain later." Snapped the halfa. He sped through the air, allowing the sounds of carnage and Ember's guitar to guide him to the ghost. "For now though, all you need to know is that I'm half ghost."

Senketsu wished to know more, but he refrained from asking anything else. Distractions during a battle could be disastrous. Particularly if he and his wearer were unaccustomed to one another.

A floating figure soon came into view. Blue hair flared upwards in a fiery column as the laughing ghost played a serious of hard riffs on a red guitar. The ectoplasm-infused chords surged from the instrument, sending cars, chunks of road, and other inanimate objects hurtling dangerously through the air.

"Hey, Ember McLame," Danny shouted. "Your music sucks."

The ghost immediately ceased her strumming, turning to glare at the boy. "Watch it, dipst... Pffffft...! What on earth are you _wearing_?"

"Shut up," Danny snapped, cheeks heating. He hugged his stomach self-consciously. "It's not like I wanna wear this thing!"

Ember doubled over, cackling loudly and slapping her guitar with overzealous mirth. "Oh my gosh, dipstick," she gasped around her laughter. "You look like you crawled straight out of a BDSM club!"

"I SAID _SHUT UP_!" The halfa snarled back. He unwrapped his arms and shot a flare of green ectoplasm at her. It flared bigger and brighter than normal and sent Ember smashing into the asphalt with a surprised yelp. Danny stared at his black and red gloved hand in surprise. He felt... stronger. _Way_ stronger.

"Whoa," he whispered, fingers flexing experimentally. "That was... wow."

A snarling Ember abruptly shot up and out of the asphalt, kicking at his chest with one thick steel-capped heel. Surprisingly, Danny barely staggered from his place in the air, and the pain was severely dulled, almost hollow. A wide grin curled his lip.

He grasped Ember's leg, spinning the surprised rock star ghost in several fast, tight, circles then flinging her back into the Ember-shaped crater in the road, further deepening it.

Danny whooped in delight. "Senketsu, I don't have a clue what you're doing but I feel _awesome_!" He proceeded to loop-de-loop a few times to prove his point. "The wedgie still kills, though."

"Yes, well, bear in mind that you only have a maximum of roughly two more minutes fighting time left until the strain on your body becomes too much," warned the uniform.

The halfa's grin widened even further. "Heh. Like this, I'll only need one more minute to kick Ember offstage."

The ghost in question wobbled out of her hole, clutching her head in one hand and her guitar in the other. She squinted up at the boy, frowning.

"I don't remember him being this strong," she mused. It was troubling, to say the least.

She levitated slowly to his height, now tightly clutching her guitar with both hands. Carefully, she watched him cease his aerial acrobatics, cross his arms over the weird black and red BDSM-esque outfit, and grin at her. She felt another gaze on her and found herself glancing at the leftmost raised collar-like piece on Danny's chest.

The rings of red, yellow and orange stared back.

Ember suppressed a shudder. "Dipstick, what _is_ that thing?"

"Beats me," Danny shrugged. "It's weird and uncomfortable to wear," he paused to pull at a suspender for emphasis. "But the power is incredible!"

'_I don't stand a chance,'_ the ghost realised, reaching up to probe at the area around her chest and collar gingerly. It was burnt terribly and stung at even her more featherlight touches. _'He could obliterate me at this rate without knowing,'_ she thought with mounting horror. _'Give him another couple of ectoblasts at that same level of power and I'll be almost completely vaporised. I need to leave. _Now_.'_

Danny blinked in confusion as Ember slowly began to edge away from him. "You okay, Ember?"

Her response was to turn her back and outright flee.

"Oh no you don't," muttered the halfa. He shot after her like a bat out of hell. "I am _not_ letting you go so you can destroy even more of Amity Park!"

Ember peered over her shoulder once, and only once.

It was a mistake.

A fist of black and red slammed into her face, physically caving it in. It hurt so much that being sucked into the Fenton Thermos straight afterwards was practically a blessing.

Danny screwed the Thermos lid tight, humming contentedly.

"Barely broke a sweat!" He crowed, tossing and catching the Thermos one-handed.

"Danny," Senketsu warned. "You have forty seconds before the transformation begins to take a worse toll on your body."

"Say what?!" He yelped. Had time really flown by so fast? "Oh, man... I gotta hurry!"

Clutching the Thermos tightly to his chest, Danny flew home at top speed. Now that Senketsu was slowly counting down the seconds, the halfa was now distinctly aware of his pounding head and aching body, as well as his slowly mounting panic over these facts.

Thankfully, Fenton Works was quickly coming into view.

"Seventeen... Sixteen... Fifteen..."

"Shut up," growled Danny. It came out rather cracked and scared towards the end.

He skidded to a stop just before crashing headfirst into his window, pausing just long enough to watch his parents poke around the car crashed under the tree.

"Eleven... Ten..."

"I said shut up," he hissed at the uniform, smacking the chest piece for good measure. The uniform's single eye glared at him as it continued its countdown anyway.

Hissing angrily, Danny turned intangible and slipped inside his room. He checked the doorknob quickly - it was thankfully still locked - and hovered above his bed.

"Four... Three...!" Senketsu said anxiously.

Danny rolled his eyes before closing them, focusing on the warm spark of his humanity. "I know, I know."

"Two."

The white rings flashed over his body, bringing heat and pain with them.

"One."

Danny's eyes rolled up into his head as gravity and a severe case of anemia grasped him in their clutches. He fell onto his bed with a thump, watching through a dull, and rapidly dimming, haze of red peppered with white stars as Senketsu flashed white then returned to his uniform appearance.

Danny allowed unconsciousness to claim him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** The pacing was probably erratic (can you tell I was starting to give up towards the end?), but I kinda can't bring myself to care at this point. Besides, it _is_ a crackfic. They tend to be weirdly paced. ... Not written super crack-y for a crackfic though, is it?

Aaaanyways... unless some crazy mofo or several ask for more, I'm just going to leave this as a silly oneshot. Although, I'll probably just do that regardless of demands, depending on my mood. And if I ever figure out what I can do with such a dumb crossover. :/

I'm still very sorry for this monstrosity. I'm sure Butch Hartman would be disgusted, and Studio Trigger would probably get a good snort or two at the absurdity of having their ecchi-tastic anime combined with an early 2000's kids cartoon.

I know I'm feeling rather conflicted over the conception of this weirdness... But I'm going through an experimental stage of sorts with my writing soooo... yeah.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Well this is being continued. But not so much as a crackfic, since my writing is far too serious.

This is officially still weird though.

But pretty fun to write. Hence why I'm continuing.

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><p><span><strong>Important note:<strong> I have a bit of a headcanon that Senketsu was/is in a constant struggle with his kamui nature; the almost predatory side of him that would drain someone dry without a thought. Basically, if he ditched his morals, he'd become a second Junketsu. That can actually talk instead of just screech.

* * *

><p><strong>Phantom la Phantom<strong>

* * *

><p>Danny's head was pounding when he woke up. Not only that, but his bedroom looked blurred and was spinning suspiciously. He moaned at the sight, slamming his eyes back shut.<p>

"Anybody get the name of that truck..." He mumbled, tossing an arm over his eyes. "Ugh. What hit me?"

"Nothing literal. The transformation has simply taken its toll on your body."

Danny flung his arm off his face and sat up sharply.

"You? You're _still_ here?!"

The single eye of the uniform matched his venomous glare with a look of frustrating calm.

"Yes," it answered simply.

"I thought you said you'd get off me after I finished dealing with Ember?" The halfa hissed accusingly.

"You were unconscious," Senketsu offered. The fabric of one shoulder lifted slightly of its own volition in a shrugging motion. "Removing me would require you to be awake."

"Which would be now," growled Danny. He gripped the hem of the cropped uniform top, struggling to pull it up and over his head. "Now _off_!"

Senketsu resisted for a moment. He was weak and barely keeping his stitches together; Danny's odd-tasting blood being the only thing keeping him whole at this point. Slowly, though, he released his metaphorical fingers, allowing the boy to pull him off. A promise was a promise after all. He just wished the boy wasn't so rough when removing him.

Immediately, Danny tossed the uniform at the foot of his bed, relieved to finally be free of its constant slow draining. He hesitantly ran his hands over his body. Everything felt fine. Apart from the feeling of absolute bone-tiredness, anyway. But his skin was a lot paler than usual and dotted with cold sweat. He groaned as the room began to tilt and sway again.

"This... this sucks. Royally."

The uniform sort of flopped so it was more on its side, revealing that it had somehow ditched its suspenders altogether and formed some kind of odd wide mouth. It seemed just as exhausted as he did.

"Lie back down for the moment," it suggested. "After the dizziness alleviates somewhat, you should make sure to get plenty of food and fluids into your system."

Danny did as instructed, eyes fluttering feebly to stay open.

"Done this b'fore?" He asked in a sleepy slur.

Senketsu grunted by way of reply. He wasn't in the mood to talk about Ryuko in any vague way, shape, or form with a semi-conscious boy he had known for a grand total of one hour (of wakefulness, anyway); if that. In fact, half an hour was probably more accurate.

Danny sighed contentedly, savouring the cushiony feel of his bed under him. "Well that was fun. 'Cept for the wedgie."

The _kamui_ gave an absent hum. "You'll get used to that."

The halfa either didn't hear that, or was too loopy from blood loss to understand. He giggled to himself.

"I'm gonna kick Vlad's butt next."

Senketsu remained quiet. He closed his eye to block the boy from sight, huffing slightly with annoyance.  
>If Danny could just stop his babbling, he could pretend that nothing had changed; that he was laying across from Ryuko, softly snoring off the day's battle(s), instead of rumpled at the foot of some whiny 'half ghost' boy's bed. It made him homesick.<br>Speaking of him...

Senketsu opened his eye again to peer at his new (and hopefully only temporary) wearer.

The kid was scrawny and wiry - probably no older than sixteen - but there was definitely some muscle definition on his small frame. And if Senketsu looked hard enough, he could see all sorts of time-faded battle scars. The kid was a fighter, and had been for a couple of years too, judging by the sheer amount of marks. Despite himself, Senketsu was impressed. Although, there were other things about the boy that he found far less impressive. The heart patterned boxers - which he eyed with disdain - for one.

Ryuko's underwear was _far_ cuter.

Danny moaned in his sleep, rolling onto his side and grasping the sheets tightly. He shivered visibly even though the room was fairly warm. That, Senketsu guessed, was bad.

"Could I have taken too much blood?" He mused aloud.

It was possible, he supposed. When he and Ryuko had first fought together, her embarrassment and unwillingness and to wear him had forced him to take a _lot_ of blood just to keep the transformation intact. But they had gotten better quickly and burned less blood after Ryuko came to accept him better. And they continued to improve in leaps and bounds as their friendship strengthened.  
>It was the same principal here. He'd just have to start from scratch with Danny; slowly build up their mutual trust. That way, they would minimise their hurts and Senketsu could get the boy to return him to Honnouji Academy. To Ryuko.<p>

Satisfied with his decision, Senketsu glanced back towards Danny. And blinked, dumbfounded.

_'What happened to his arm?'_ He wondered. Then a sick realisation hit the _kamui_.

It was gone. From the elbow down, it simply ceased to exist.

"Danny, wake up!"

Senketsu awkwardly dragged himself up and over the boy until he was draped over his shoulder and a small portion of his chest. He slapped at his face with a sleeve as hard as he dared.

The halfa moaned pitifully, and the half-gone arm moved up as though the rest of it was still there to shield his face. "Go 'way..."

"No. You need to wake up. Something's wrong with you."

The _kamui_ slapped at his face again, startled to feel something like fingers instead of a cheek.

"Yeah. 'M half dead." Danny giggled to himself. "Have been fo' two an' a half years now. … Oops. Spilled m' secret."

Senketsu slapped him again (or attempted to; the invisible hand was still in the way) when the giggling became louder and more uncontrollable.

"Pull yourself together!" He hissed.

"Nooooo... Ten more minutes."

"Danny, please."

The boy curled up tighter, shuddering. "Don't feel good. Cold..."

Senketsu made a frustrated noise. If only he had fingers so he could pinch the boy awake. Or someone else with fingers to do the pinching for him. He was about to settle for just biting Danny when the halfa started sliding down _through_ the bed.

"Danny? _Danny_!" The kamui attempted to wrap his sleeves around the boy's arm and pull him out, but he was too slow and the ghost boy disappeared through the furniture.

Something heavy thumped downstairs, followed by another, significantly smaller, something shattering.

"No, no, no," Senketsu whipped about frantically in search of a way out to help the halfa. He began to panic as it quickly became apparent that there was no obvious exit.  
>He was trapped.<p>

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><p>"<em>Went ghost hunting. There's cookies on the table, and last night's ecto-weenies in the fridge if you're hungry."<em> Jazz paused in her reading of the note to wrinkle her nose in distaste. "Ew. How about no."

She proceeded to crumple the note in her hand and toss it into the trash can, not really needing to read the usual 'Love, mom and dad' at the note's end.

Jazz gave the car crashed into the tree under her little brother's room a look and a sigh. That was undoubtedly the work of a ghost; which was likely why she hadn't seen him since fifth period. Her poor baby brother could never catch a break.

Shaking her head, Jazz produced the house key from her pocket and let herself in.

"Danny? I'm home!"

Silence met the statement and she frowned. Was he still out hunting the ghost? Or could he have been captured or incapacitated by it? Worse still, could their _parents_ have captured him with plans of dissecting Phantom on the brain?

Jazz chewed her lip as she entered the kitchen, dumping her bag by the entrance. She knew Danny could take care of himself, and that she was riling herself up needlessly... But she still couldn't help worrying. It was her protective big sister instincts kicking in.

"He's fine, Jazz," she told herself. "It's probably just the Box Ghost being a nuisance, like usual. Yeah..."

Somewhat soothed by her self-reassurance, she began to make a beeline for the fridge, but had to stop and do a double take.

All but one of the cookies mentioned in her parents' note, along with their plate, looked to have fallen and were lying about in a pile of broken china and chunks of chocolate chipped dough. The sole surviving cookie rolled at a slow, wobbling pace through a small patch of red liquid, then off the table to join its brethren, streaking red in its wake. The red seemed to be coming from the head of the prone form sprawled on the tabletop.

Jazz's eyes widened. The scream on her lips came out instead as a breathless, incoherent babbling as she scrambled towards her brother, uncaring of the mess she crunched through. She leaned over him, trying her best to clamp down on her fear and force her hands to stop shaking. Her voice squeaked almost comically as she called his name.

"D-D-D-Danny?"

She thought she saw his fingers twitch but that could've just been her wavering vision playing tricks on her. Jazz cleared her throat and licked dry lips.

"Danny?" She tried again with a slightly stronger voice. "Can you hear me, little brother?"

He released a pitiful whimper and his sister visibly slumped with relief.

"Okay... Okay. He's okay. Sort of. Breathe, Jazz. Just breathe. Check the... the wound first."

With agonising slowness, she reached for Danny, afraid to hurt him further. When he didn't (fully) die under her touch she relaxed marginally.

"Upsy daisy," she whispered, gripping him under both armpits and slowly forcing him up into a seated position. His head immediately lolled forward. There was no resistance whatsoever.

Jazz kept one arm wrapped around Danny's chest to keep him in place whilst she probed gingerly at the back of his head with the other. Thankfully, the wound was shallow and already half healed. Gotta love the regeneration rate of a half ghost.

Sobbing gratefully, Jazz hugged her brother as hard as she dared.

His uneven breath rasped in her ear and he released an uncomfortable grunting cough.

"Sorry," Jazz grinned sheepishly. Gently, she laid him back on the table. "You had me worried, was all."

Danny, still stuck firmly in the realm of unconsciousness, made no reply.

Jazz crunched her way over to the medical cabinet, making a mental note to clean the mess up once she had her brother patched up. She rifled through the cabinet's contents until her fingers brushed against the wrapping gauze. She pulled it out then proceeded to obtain a small bowl - which she promptly filled with water - and a clean rag. Jazz placed the items on the table before carefully elevating her brother into the sitting position again. This still barely elicited a response from Danny.

One end of the rag was dipped into the water bowl and wrung one-handed (a much harder feat than Jazz initially thought) before she gingerly dabbed at her brother's head. The rag absorbed his blood greedily, thus, had to be wrung out multiple times. Jazz tried not to let the sight of the many shades of red swirling in nauseatingly pretty patterns through the water get to her.

When she deemed the worst of the blood to be gone, she dabbed at his head as gently as possible with the dry end of the cloth. Despite her best efforts to not hurt him, Danny hissed and flinched away when she prodded the corner of the wound.

That, Jazz decided, was enough. He could take a shower and wash it out later, when he was feeling up to the task.  
>Her arm was getting sore, so she swapped to the other before wrapping up Danny's head.<p>

When she was done, Jazz felt a small glow of pride at her work. It wasn't perfect by any means, but she figured she had done rather well anyway.

Now for the hard part...

With a grunt, Jazz managed to hoist her unconscious brother off the table. She wrapped his arm across her shoulders and grabbed him around the waist with her free hand, setting a half-wobbling, half-dragging-Danny-along pace towards the couch. A bed would have been preferable, but Jazz knew she wouldn't have the strength to lug him up the stairs and into his room.

When she finally got him onto the couch, she wanted to curl up right next to him, such was her tiredness. Shoving the tiredness aside, she instead forced herself upstairs to fetch Danny's blanket from his room.

However, jiggling the knob of Danny's door revealed it to be locked. This was likely to make sure their parents didn't catch him in the act of transforming. Or skipping the last few hours of school.

The real question was, why had he been crashed out - partially in the ironically literal sense - on the kitchen table in his underwear?

Wrinkling her nose, Jazz made a beeline for her own room.  
>It was something she'd have to ask him when he was conscious.<p>

As she passed by Danny's door again with her blanket in her arms, Jazz noted the curious looking uniform sleeve peeking out from the bottom of it. She made a mental note to remind her brother to put his clothes away properly before continuing her tromp downstairs.

* * *

><p>Senketsu remained frozen until the footsteps passed before heaving a quiet sigh of relief.<p>

From the sounds of it, the as-yet unidentified female had found and helped Danny.

_'It was incredibly lucky that she appeared when she did,' _the _kamui_ thought._ 'Danny might have died otherwise. ... Is that even the correct terminology for one who claims to be half ghost? By rights, being half ghost would imply that he is already half dead...'_

"This is confusing," he grumbled as he resumed his gradual escape from Danny's room.

It was strenuous work for a severely weakened and malnourished _kamui_, and Senketsu hissed as he felt yet another tear reopen. The Life Fibers that composed his being were unravelling. He needed more blood to mend himself, pronto. If he didn't, he would be in the same state as when he first entered Amity Park: disintegrating scraps of cloth.

But he couldn't. Danny was already suffering from severe blood loss. Not to mention, he had made a promise to the boy...

'_You made a promise to get off him after the battle,' _a small part of him said in sly tones. _'But he didn't say you couldn't get back on.'_

Senketsu shook himself vigorously. "No. That would betray his trust. Besides, he's in just as bad a state as I am; I can't do that to him!"

_'But he isn't unravelling at the seams,'_ insisted the traitorous voice. _'_You_ are.'_

"That... that doesn't justify breaking his trust."

Yet despite himself, Senketsu's resolve was beginning to waver. The voice was frighteningly persuasive. But he already knew that from experience.

_'Just one more taste,'_ it purred. _'One more taste of that delicious, life-sustaining blood. It tasted like heaven, didn't it? Better than Ryuko's.'_

The _kamui_ trembled. He wanted to deny it, but it was true. There was something in Danny's blood that made it taste sweeter, irresistibly so…

He really did want more of it.

_'Go and get some then,'_ the voice urged.

His mouth whispered no, but he nonetheless dragged himself the rest of the way out from under Danny's door and into the hall. The temptation and hunger were simply too much to bear.

This was the first time in a long time that he was listening to the voice.

* * *

><p>Senketsu silently watched his new wearer sleeping from his perch on the top of the couch. Now that he was actually downstairs, his misgivings had returned.<p>

Poor Danny looked worse for wear. His skin was almost chalky in appearance from the lack of blood, and his breathing was shallow and uneven. Unravelling Life Fibers or no, the _kamui_ couldn't bring himself to take any more blood from the boy. So when the little voice of perpetual hunger began to start its whispering anew, he immediately shoved it away. His base instincts did _not_ dictate him; not like Junketsu, his guttural, snarling 'brother'.

Suppressing a shudder, Senketsu peered curiously at the room's other occupant.

She was curled up in the armchair opposite from the couch, wrapped snugly in a blanket. Stray locks of warm orange shifted gently with her sleeping breaths, and the thick book she had been reading prior had long since fallen from her fingers and come to rest at her feet.

Upon close scrutiny, Senketsu deemed her to be Danny's sister, since they shared the same wide eyes and small, slightly upturned nose.

_'Let her wear you; she'll fit better. Drink her blood.'_

"Shut up," Senketsu mumbled tiredly.

Had this side of him always been such an obnoxious nuisance, or was it becoming worse?

_'No. I'm just weak and hungry,'_ he reasoned. _'So it's only natural that my urge to feed is harder to control.'_

Yeah... That sounded right.

Mostly.

Again, Senketsu sighed tiredly, slumping and allowing his sleeves to dangle in the air above Danny's shoulder. He gave the glowing red peering from his jaggedly torn form a forlorn look. The perpetual glow of the Life Fibers comprising his being, although slightly brighter than last he checked, were still far too dull for his liking.

He watched hollowly as another thread began to fray and snap before his very eye.

"This entire situation is a mess," the _kamui_ chuckled humourlessly to himself. "And I'm at the forefront of it."

Outside, something distinctly machine-like - quite possibly a vehicle of some kind - rumbled then died. The opening and closing of doors accompanied by talking followed, confirming that it had indeed been a vehicle.

With a small grunt of exertion, Senketsu pushed himself forward, falling into the space between Danny's shoulder and the couch, out of sight.

He had the distinct impression that he would be ill-received.

No, wait. That was firsthand experience talking.

The boy stirred slightly, head lolling in the _kamui's_ direction. He blinked bleary blue eyes, squinting at the sentient uniform.

"Senketsu?" He murmured fuzzily.

He stayed silent. It was taking every scrap of his concentration and willpower to refrain from latching to the halfa and draining more blood.

Danny closed his eyes and shifted again. He mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'crazy dream' before his breathing slowed and deepened with sleep again.

Senketsu sighed tiredly as Maddie and Jack Fenton entered the house, quiet as a pair of elephants in a concrete room.

Beneath one sleeve, he felt the sluggish pulse of Danny's blood calling enticingly to him.

This was going to be a very long night.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Wow. I didn't realise so many people would actually like this monstrosity...

Are you guys getting off to the image of Danny in the Senketsu-skirt or what? *slapped*

For real though, I don't have a clue what about this captivated you people enough to follow this despite the uncertainty of whether or not I would decide to continue.

I mean, I am _now_, sure. But, it'd help to know, y'know...?

Totally subtle hint hint nudge nudge wink wink right there. Pfft.

Enjoy the rest of your day/afternoon/night, you strange people.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Next time on Phantom la Phantom: <strong>__Danny - with lots of input from Senketsu - reveals to Tucker and Sam how their strange partnership actually started._


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